There is the case, monk, where a monk has heard, 'All things are unworthy of attachment.' Having heard that all things are unworthy of attachment, he directly knows every thing. Directly knowing every thing, he comprehends every thing. Comprehending every thing, he sees all themes[2] as something separate.SN35.80

"Life is a struggle. Life will throw curveballs at you, it will humble you, it will attempt to break you down. And just when you think things are starting to look up, life will smack you back down with ruthless indifference..."

alan... wrote:as small as you can get it but have it still be a complete path that someone could follow without anything else.

the theravada dhamma is IMMENSE, i'm constantly trying to whittle it down to something that i can wrap my head around.

a book?

a practice?

a certain school?

Theravada is immense, though not as immense as some other schools. Quite frankly, you can make this as complicated or as simple as you want. To re-word what you are asking: What is the bare minimum one needs to know and needs to do? (But even that will take work.)

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

Just stop trying to get your head around it. Buddhism is not a thing of the intellect. Be happy to have a "don't know" mind. If there is not a lot you are sure of, simply see it as it is. You can't follow anything external forever, anyway. You'll have to become your own guide trough your own suffering and its causes. The practice then simply becomes to let go of these causes.

Distilling the Dhamma means thinking with it, not thinking about it, neh?

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]

daverupa wrote:Distilling the Dhamma means thinking with it, not thinking about it

Yes.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

"It would be good, lord, if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief such that, having heard the Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute."

"Gotami, the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome': You may categorically hold, 'This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher's instruction.'

"As for the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome': You may categorically hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.'" http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

"I don't envision a single thing that, when developed & cultivated, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed & cultivated, leads to great benefit."

"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about such suffering & stress as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped & uncultivated, brings about suffering & stress."

The most distilled version of dhamma is transmitted in SN 35.23: Sabba sutta. But the only appropiate way of dealing with such distilled versions of dhamma is immediate understanding which is an understanding that is abandonment. That may appear too difficult since the habit to do something in order to build up something is so deeply engrained.The next but already more elaborate version of distilled dhamma is SN 35.28: Adittapariyaya Sutta ("the fire sermon") which may however be felt to be as inappropriate as SN 35.23 for the same reason.

"Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress."

alan... wrote:as small as you can get it but have it still be a complete path that someone could follow without anything else.

the theravada dhamma is IMMENSE, i'm constantly trying to whittle it down to something that i can wrap my head around.

a book?

a practice?

a certain school?

Theravada is immense, though not as immense as some other schools. Quite frankly, you can make this as complicated or as simple as you want. To re-word what you are asking: What is the bare minimum one needs to know and needs to do? (But even that will take work.)

The Anguttara Nikaya has the most suttas directed toward lay people than any other Nikaya. It lists the Dhamma teachings by numbers and presents it in a nice summary format. It also has teachings not found in other Nikayas, i.e., there is not so much of the repetition found in other Nikayas.